Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said on Thursday that Idlib would be cleared of terrorists "very soon" and Damascus was already working on restoring public service in the province and other liberated areas
DAMASCUS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th February, 2019) Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said on Thursday that Idlib would be cleared of terrorists "very soon" and Damascus was already working on restoring public service in the province and other liberated areas."Experts are making efforts to restore [public] services for all citizens living in the areas that have returned under the state's protection, including the Idlib province, which will be liberated [from anti-government militants] very soon," the prime minister said when presenting Syria's first national report on the country's sustainable development.
Last September, Syrian ceasefire guarantors Russia and Turkey agreed to set up a demilitarized zone in the Idlib de-escalation zone, where a number of armed formations and terrorist groups are still active.
The demilitarized zone was expected to have been established by October 15, 2018 but despite progress in the withdrawal of heavy weapons and militants from the area, remaining groups regularly commit ceasefire violations, shelling nearby provinces.
On January 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that jihadists from the Nusra Front terrorist organization (outlawed in Russia), which is believed to be dominating the area, had taken over around 70 percent of the 9-12 mile demilitarized zone.
